Morning all Here is part two of the First British Occupation Macartney, too, tried in vain to persuade both black and white to respect the Fish River as the definitive boundary between their respective peoples, but the frontier continued to be a centre of unrest throughout the first British occupation. Fort Frederick was constructed at Al goa Bay, from which troops could be deployed to trouble spots involving either Boers or Xhosa, and Maynier was installed as Resident Commissioner at Graaff-Reinet. However, he lacked anything like the means needed to maintain peace and order, and antagonised the farmers by forbidding them to use armed parties to recover stolen cattle. Finally, the colonial authorities were obliged to recall him. The frontier remained combustible, and the period from 1799 to 1803 was called, in retrospect, the Third Frontier War. Twice the Khoikhoi went into rebellion in conjunction with the Xhosa, and by 1803 the authorities could do no more than make a peace which merely papered over the cracks. It was in a highly unsettled state that, in terms of the Treaty of Amiens between Britain and France, the Cape was handed over to the new Batavian Republic early in 1803. The Batavian occupation, 1803-1806 The regime of the Batavians, which succeeded that of the British, is traditionally associated with the spread of the thinking of the Enlightenment, but in fact it was somewhat more conservative than is usually believed. Unlike the British, the Batavians expected to retain the colony permanently, and sent out one of the members of the Council for Asiatic Possessions, Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist, to implement a memorandum which he had submitted in 1802, outlining proposals for extensive reforms in the colony's system of government. Both De Mist and the Governor, Lieutenant- General Jan Willem Janssens, were intent primarily upon imposing order upon the far-flung and loosely structured colony. Tighter organization led inexorably to an increasing degree of centralization of power and, despite De Mist's strong belief in the sovereignty of law and the rights and freedom of the individual, to a more authoritarian approach. The powers of the Governor were extended, and the restored Council of Policy consisted almost entirely of Hollanders, not colonists. The Burgher Council (re named the Raad der Gemeente) remained an appointive body, and attempts were made to reduce its functions further. Central government control was further promoted by the establishment of new drostdies at Uitenhage and Tulbagh in 1804. Districts were subdivided into wards, each under a newly created official, the field-cornet, and a weekly post between the drostdies was instituted. The most significant judicial change was the creation of a Council of Justice, consisting of six members with legal qualifications. The judicature was to be quite independent of the executive. The historian G M Theal and those who followed his lead erred in the belief that the ordinances on religion and education shocked the colonists by their radical nature. In fact, the self-supporting church administration which the Kerkorde of 1804 inaugurated, received considerable support from church boards and ministers alike. Civil marriage was instituted, but the practice was not very different from what had obtained during the days of the Company. Similarly, the Schoolorde of 1805, which was promulgated with the avowed intention of secularizing education in order to train civil servants, was generally welcomed by the colonists because of the advances which it was expected to bring in formal education. Financial stringency also prevented the Batavians from launching a more positive attack upon the problems of the eastern frontier. De Mist and Janssens had both hoped that their administrative reforms would enable them to establish a firmer grip upon the frontiersmen; but to afford them protection was another matter. Janssens was obliged to continue the policies of his predecessors, merely attempting to keep the peace. Khoikhoi were moved into locations, and Dr J T van der Kemp was granted land for a mission station at Bethelsdorp near Algoa Bay. Other Khoikhoi were persuaded to return from the Zuurveld to labour on white farms in terms of a regulation that employers might hire their labour only on a written contract signed before official witnesses. As for the Xhosa, Janssens found himself without the powers of coercion needed to induce the victorious tribesmen to leave the Zuurveld and continued to pursue a policy of merely maintaining a rigid frontier between black and white. kind regards Heather Heather's South African Genealogy Help List www.genealogy.co.za The 1902 Municipal Voters Roll of Cape Town - Districts 1 to 6 The 1878 Voters Roll for the Cape is now available with tens of thousands on names !!! 1805, 1829, 1835 and 1849 Cape Almanacs now on CD The Juta's Directory of 1900 which lists residents of Cape Town from the City Bowl until Simonstown. To view our catalogue go to www.genealogy.co.za/scribes.html Cape Town Family History Society www.genealogy.co.za/society.html